


Scratched Memories

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Scratched session
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-10
Updated: 2011-12-10
Packaged: 2017-10-27 04:02:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/291413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dave, the Knight of Time, remembers more than he should have after the Scratch, and it haunts him until he meets Rose for the first time in the scratched world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scratched Memories

**Author's Note:**

> I like Dave sadstuck okay

The sun shone brightly through the curtainless window and onto a young man's face. He opened his eyes, only to shut them again and pull his blanket over his face. He blindly reached for the stand next to him, gently patting the surface to find his shades. Soon he felt his fingers touch them, but as he went to pick them up, they fell to the ground with a soft thud against the carpet. He hung his hand off the bed in slight frustration and swung his legs off the bed, reaching over and picking up his shades. He held them gingerly in his hands, staring down at them. They were large aviators, slightly beat up over the years, but still intact and wearable. He shut his eyes tightly and rubbed them with his left hand.

There was a knock on his bedroom door. He quickly slipped the shades over his eyes and stood. When he opened the door, he saw a familiar, young face, eyes concealed with pointy shades that took up almost half his face. They each wore blank expressions. The man's younger brother, who was but 5 years now, had been a very calm, easy child to care for, as his goal was to be like his older bro. Much like many things lately, this was very familiar to him; but unlike with this little guy, he was raised by a father, not an older brother.

This familiarity was like someone was constantly ringing bells and alarms in his head at many things; shitty movies, puppets (especially with long noses), rectangular or ridiculously large, round glasses, pink scarves, black or white terriers, strange typing habits, you name it. One person who really set off alarms was his younger brother. He'd found him in a crater as a baby. It was a wonder he survived. He kept the child out of curiosity, along with something at the back of his head nagging him about this particular kid. No other kids he saw did this, it was just his younger brother. Sometimes it was even painful to see him. He was so familiar and he had so many mixed feelings toward whoever he reminded him of, but he didn't even know who it was.

"Bro?" The child asked, clutching a beat-up stuffed rabbit. "What's this?" He held it up toward his older bro's face, as far as he could reach.

The man took it. "It's from a movie." He answered, staring down at it blankly. "Con Air."

"Why do you have it?"

This was one of the things he didn't have an answer for. He shrugged his shoulders. "Because Con Air is one of the shittiest movies I've ever seen."

"Then why do you want it?"

"It's ironic."

The child stared up at him silently, studying his older brother's face. He let out a small sigh of defeat, then spoke again. "I'm hungry."

"Alright. I'll get you something." The man stepped out of his room, walking out into the apartment full of wires and electronics. This apartment was another thing that set off his alarms. He bought it in hopes of figuring out why it was so familiar to him, but that was one of the many things that went unsolved.

He reached into the pantry and grabbed a box of a cheapo ripoff of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. This was his little brother's favorite. It was full of the thing all kids love, sugar. This kid was almost like a black hole, always getting sugar where he could. One time he even stole a candy bar from the dollar store. He allowed the smallest of smirks at that memory. He had to tell him it was bad to steal, of course; he didn't want the cops on his ass for letting his younger brother steal. The thing he loved about that though was he was completely emotionless through stealing it and getting told he did something bad. He just sat there and ate that chocolate almost in a spiteful way.

"Bro?"

"Hm?" The man asked as he dumped some cereal into a small bowl, followed by milk.

"What's your real name?"

The man was silent for a moment as he delivered the cereal to the five year old. "Dave."

"That sounds like Dane." The child pointed out as he shoveled the cereal into his mouth.

Dave nodded. "Yeah. It does."

"Is that why you named me Dane?"

Dave shrugged again. "I guess so."

Dane looked up at Dave again carefully. He was constantly watching him very carefully, like he knew there was something past Dave's blank expression and he was trying to find it. To Dave's knowledge, he never found it. Dave was not only the best at keeping his straight face, he also never found it in him to show any other emotion. There was something about his surroundings that kept him from feeling any need to show anything else. Maybe that was why Dane was always watching him as carefully as he did. He seemed to know something was up.

"Why were you screaming last night?" Dane asked, staring down at his cereal.

Dave tightened his grip around the tacky stuffed rabbit.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Dane questioned, looking back up at Dave.

Dave shut his eyes, recalling little bits and pieces of the dream. He didn't have to remember all of it from that particular night to know what happened in the dream. It was another one of those dreams in which he was watching himself die over and over. Some forces killing him were invisible; every time he dreamt it, he never recalled what they were. He'd come to the conclusion they were invisible and moved on. However, sometimes something reminded him of his dreams. Like the rabbit, but this was one of the lesser things that reminded him of the dreams. There were other things that were more spot-on. Birds. Dogs. Shitty swords. Coins. Guns. Hell, sometimes even Gushers made him think of his dreams.

"Yeah. Bad dream." Dave replied quietly.

"What was it about?" Dane pressed. "You have a lot of bad dreams."

Dave was forming a response before he heard barking outside. His entire body tensed up. That barking set off two kinds of alarms. The first was familiarity. The other was danger. He knew not to panic, but it was just one of those things that was hard to help. When Dane was a baby, a huge black dog approached him and started growling at him. Dave had actually done something coolkids such as himself NEVER do: He screamed and ran. Now all he could do was get away from the source of the barking as quickly as possible without panicking. He took in a deep breath and exhaled, calming himself.

"A lot of things." Dave responded. "I'll tell you when you're older."

This, of course, was an excuse to not talk about it. Dane seemed to know this and turned back to his cereal.

This was one of the typical days that happened over the years. Ten years, to be exact. Dane had gotten heavily into robotics, making a robotic device for pretty much everything. Dave and Dane didn't talk much anymore. The most was an occasional "Sup" or a nod of acknowledgement. Sometimes Dave would go as far as to praise Dane for his outstanding work in robotics. Dave sometimes felt sad for Dane. He wasn't there for him a lot of the time, as most guardians were. It was a feeling he somehow knew, being alone. His life with his father wasn't very alone at all, though. He had all kinds of friends, and despite the differences, Dave and his father got along very well.

Dave would give small hints of reaching out, but either Dane didn't notice or he chose to ignore it. Dave was no longer sure what to do other than leave the kid alone--and that's exactly what he did. Dane would go to school every day, do his homework, take incredibly long showers, work on his robots, and talk to his friends over Pesterchum. He had three friends. He'd let you know in subtle ways. It was his way of showing Dave not to worry.

Dane was starting to see through Dave's coolkid act. He knew something was up, just as he did when he was younger, but he was getting deeper in to Dave's feelings without any conversation. He could see it. He could hear it in Dave's nightmares. Sometimes Dane would get up and shake Dave out of his nightmares. Dave would always send him back to bed and stay up until the next night. Sometimes Dave would stay up for days on end to avoid the nightmares. He could tell Dane worried about him.

Soon, after nearly a full week, Dave crashed. He quickly fell into the control of his subconscious. He had the same nightmare. He woke up screaming with Dane by his side, an obvious look of worry on his face. He wasn't even wearing his shades this time, making his concern even more painfully obvious. He had that look again. That look he always gave Dave, studying him closely. It was almost as if he could see right through Dave. Dave rubbed his face and looked back at his little brother.

"Go back to bed. It's... fuck, what time is it?"

"Four."

"In the morning?"

"It's still dark outside, dipshit."

Dave looked at him almost angrily. "Go back to bed."

"No. What is it you always have nightmares about, Bro?" Dane looked at Dave, a stern look on his fifteen year old face.

"It's nothing!" Dave yelled. "Go to bed!"

"Dave!" Dane yelled back. "Obviously there is SOMETHING. Tell me and I'll go to bed."

"Dane Strider, I am telling you to--"

"Who is John?" Dane demanded. There was silence.

Dave stared at him carefully. That was a damn good question. Who was John?

"Who is Rose? Who is Jade? Who is Karkat, Terezi, and Tavros?" Dane pressed. "Who are they?"

"I don't know." Dave said.

"Who is Jack?"

"I don't know!" Dave said, his voice rising again. "Go to bed. Now."

"Well if you dream about all these people every night--"

"GO." Dave yelled, pointing to the door. "It is none of your damn business! You have school tomorrow, don't you?"

"It's summer." Dane said. Then his voice rose. "Bro, you can't keep going like this. I can tell there's something wrong. There's been something wrong for as long as I can remember."

Dave remained silent, staring at his little brother.

"You've always been afraid of dogs, and crows, and it's like you're afraid of video games, and you try to hide it behind how 'cool' you are, but in reality you just need some serious fucking help!" Dane ranted. "I've known you needed help my whole life and you won't get any help. You're always screaming about 'Jack' killing you at night and everyone dying and how it's your fault. What is it? What is your fault? Who is Jack, why is he killing you, and who is everyone else? What is the 'Knight of Time'?"

Dave covered his ears. His alarms were going off like someone was about to bomb the city. He didn't know why, but he started to cry. Dane went silent, watching Dave in surprise. All he'd wanted was an answer to why Dave was so broken. He stood there for a moment, then sat down on the other side of the bed, not sure what to do to calm his older brother.

"Bro?"

"What is it now, Dane?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were going to be upset. I just wanted you to be okay."

Dave was silent for a long moment. "Just go back to bed."

Dane got up without another word and walked to his own bedroom. Dave curled up in his bed and sobbed. He felt empty without these people he didn't know. John, Rose, Jade? Who were they, and why did he feel so awful without them? Who was this person named Jack who killed him relentlessly every night he slept? He lied there the rest of the night, not daring to let himself fall asleep again.

Soon Dane walked into Dave's room again. "Bro."

"What?"

"I've invited a couple people over. Just so you know."

"Who?"

"Rena and her mom."

"Who the fuck is Rena?"

"One of my friends. She's from New York."

"You invited her and her mom HERE?" Dave demanded, sitting up.

"Her mom is a therapist. Plus I've wanted to meet Rena in person."

Dave buried his face in his hands.

"They're already on their flight. They'll be here soon."

"What time is it?"

"Six AM. They left a while ago."

The day quickly sped by before there was a knock on the door. Dane answered it, only to get nearly tackled in an embrace from a young girl his age. She almost seemed drunk. She looked out the door and bent over, picking up a pink bag. They interacted as if they'd known each other for years, though this was the first time they'd seen each other in person. Dave felt like he knew this feeling of knowing someone in this way.

Then her mother stepped in.

Dave was immediately smacked in the face with his alarms. A feeling of joy washed over him. He didn't know why, but he felt like breaking into tears and hugging this woman. It was like he hadn't seen her in years, when in reality he'd never actually seen her before. Dave walked into the next room and began pacing, holding down the urge to cry.

"Bro!" Dane called. "Come meet Rena and her mom. They're staying for the week."

A week. A whole fucking week. He walked reluctantly back to greet Rena and her mom. Rena held out her hand toward him in greeting. He shook her hand even more robotically than Dane's robots. Then he turned to her mother. She was so familiar. Why was she so familiar? What the fuck was this?

"Hello Mr. Strider." She said in a very business-like manner. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"S-sup." Dave said, choking up. Goddammit. Tears began to roll down his face.

"Is there something wrong?" The woman inquired, looking at him worriedly.

"I-I'm fine. It's nothing." Dave said, trying to hold it back. It all built up so quickly, like a water balloon being filled up impatiently. He whimpered as it began filling up too much.

"Bro?" Dane asked. "Bro, is this about last night?"

"No! No." Dave said quickly. "I... it's just..."

The balloon burst. He was completely blinded by his own tears behind his shades. He stepped back, trying to keep from throwing his arms around this woman he didn't even know. He was sure he didn't know her, anyway. What the hell was he thinking? He didn't know her. Why did he feel like he knew her?

"Mr. Strider--" The woman began.

"Dave." Dave said. "Call me Dave."

She put a hand on Dave's shoulder. "Dave, what is it?"

"Fuck! It's nothing. I just..." Dave sobbed. "I don't know what it is."

The woman looked at Dane.

"Ms. Lalonde?" Dane asked. "Can you figure out what's going on with him?"

Lalonde. Lalonde, where did that name come from?

"I--"

"Rose!" Dave exclaimed. "Rose Lalonde! Oh my god, Rose!"

Rose looked at him with a look of confusion. "... Yes, that is my name."

"Rose." Dave said. "Rose, it's... Rose... a-and... John... John Eg... Egbert! John, oh my god where's John? And Jade! Jade Harley!"

"You remember them now?" Dane asked. "Who are they? How..."

"Did Dane inform you of my name?" Rose asked.

"I never told him your name." Dane said.

"Rose! Rose, look, it's me!" Dave exclaimed. "We were... we were friends! We uh... fuck, what did we do... there was something really important we did. What was it... but Rose, it's me! You have to remember me."

Rose stared at Dave in bewilderment. "I... do not recall."

"We... we talked all the time. We talked over Pesterchum. With Jade and John. We all did something really fucking important... I was... the Knight. The Knight of Time."

"The... Knight of Time?" Rose asked. "Might I ask what you mean by that?"

"Hell if I know." Dave said quickly. "What did we do... what did we do..."

Rose got a weird look on her face. "This is all very strange, Mr. Strider."

"Don't you remember me?" Dave asked desperately. "Please. Please, Rose. Think. It was like... I was raised by my older brother... but I was raised by my dad. And we lived in this timeframe. And um... fuck, there was something about puppets. Muppets? Whatever. And you um... you lived with your mom... she was... she was always drunk. All the time. You would always do things to annoy each other. And you liked wizards! The wizards. Z... Zass..."

"Zazzerpan." Rose finished. "We have a giant statue dubbed Zazzerpan at the house."

"But you hated it. But you liked it at the same time." Dave said. "You... fuck..."

"Mr. Strider, I do not understand what is going on or why this is happening." Rose said. "But I find it may be best to leave."

"No, Mom!" Rena exclaimed. "We can't leave! We just got here!"

"Rena, we're leaving." Rose said sternly.

"But Mom--"

"Rose!" Dave said desperately. "Please, you have to remember! Please."

"Goodbye, Mr. Strider. I am sorry we cannot stay as long as we had hoped, Dane."

"Rose!! There was a game!!" Dave yelled. "S... sss... suh..."

Rose paused. "Sburb."

"Sburb!" Dave yelled, remembering the title and the logo. "It was supposed to be really shitty."

"But it wasn't." Rose said, turning around. "Dave... Dave Strider..."

"Do you remember?"

Rose dropped all her bags and embraced Dave, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I can't believe I forgot."

"Me either." Dave replied, hugging her back.

She pulled away, her hands on Dave's shoulders. "Where are John and Jade?"

"Fuck, I don't know." Dave said, rubbing his eyes underneath his shades. "So Dane was Bro."

"I what?" Dane asked in surprise.

"And Rena was my mother."

"So... is John his dad's dad now?"

"Jane had a grandpa named John." Rena informed.

"She did?" Rose asked, turning to her.

"Yeah." Rena said slowly.

"So that means John switched with his Nanna." Dave said. "And... she died."

"Did you say 'had', Rena?" Rose asked in a shaky voice.

"Yeah. He died a long time ago."

There was a long silence.

"So that means Jade's gone too." Dave said quietly.

"I can't believe it." Rose said, choking up again.

"Mom, what's going on?" Rena asked.

"We need some time alone for a little bit, okay Rena?" Rose said.

Rena and Dane walked out of the room, mumbling to each other about what was happening.

"John and Jade... they're dead." Dave said, tearing up again.

"How long have you been remembering all this?" Rose asked.

"A long time." Dave replied. "It's always been at the back of my head. And I've been having nightmares. Didn't you have nightmares?"

"I recalled nothing of Sburb or my own friends until just now." Rose replied.

A long silence settled over the two adults. "So what happens now?" Rose asked.

"Nothing, I guess." Dave replied. "We go on like it never happened."

**Author's Note:**

> This was probably really shitty but thanks for reading :D


End file.
